Staging a revival

Consumers' growing demand for arts spurs creation of new local venues

By Sandy Coleman, Boston Globe Staff January 18, 2007

Picture it: A warm summer evening, classical music softly drifting from an amphitheater stage to a crowd of concert goers stretched out on picnic blankets. It's not Lenox -- home of legendary Tanglewood -- but Hingham, where a new amphitheater is being planned at the redeveloped Hingham Shipyard.

That seaside music venue is just one part of the bigger, richer arts scene unfolding across the region.

Thayer Academy, the private day school in Braintree, is deep into plans for a new performing arts center that officials say is needed to keep up with growing student interest in the arts.

In Quincy, Mayor William J. Phelan has set up a "vision committee" to explore the creation of a cultural and performing arts center that he hopes will draw crowds from well beyond the region and be what he calls an economic engine. In Brockton, an arts task force created by Mayor James E. Harrington last spring is crafting a long-term plan for the city's cultural community.

Meanwhile, ArtSouth -- a South Shore collaborative that has been talked about for years -- finally is coming together. Organizers say it will mean improved communication among groups, fewer scheduling conflicts, and, ultimately, more opportunities for arts consumers.

"There is more demand for the arts on the South Shore," said Nina Wellford, managing director of the Hingham Symphony Orchestra and a founder of ArtSouth, which has participants representing about 30 organizations.

"More and more people are living here who really value what arts bring to life. You don't want to go to Boston to get your beauty in life. We want it right here where we are," she said.

"I think people here on the South Shore are finally recognizing that we can have it here. There is enough critical mass, interest, and support to make these things flourish, and that's really exciting."

Liz Haywood-Sullivan, first vice president of the North River Arts Society and ArtSouth member, agrees. "We are looking at the Greenbush Line coming in, everything you read talks about it being the largest growing area in Massachusetts. At the same time, we have people who are proactive in the arts saying: What can we do to improve the access and the offerings of the arts?"

Adding to momentum is a recent announcement from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassDevelopment about the establishment of the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund. There is $13 million available this year to fund grants to promote the acquisition, design, repair, expansion, or construction of cultural facilities in the state.

Since the December announcement, inquiries have been coming nonstop, said Jay Paget, fund project director.

Count Quincy among the intrigued. Phelan recently established a committee to explore the arts center concept and scout locations as part of a larger attempt to stimulate tourism and economic development downtown.

The state's decision to make investment in cultural facilities a priority is encouraging, and an indicator that the time is right for expanding the cultural scene in the region, said Dave Murphy, the mayor's spokesman. "This isn't the reason why we're doing it, it's just a happy coincidence."

Dave Casanave, director of communications at Thayer Academy, could say the same. The school is planning to break ground before summer on a 500-plus-seat, $10 million to $14 million center for visual and performance arts, and grant money would come in handy.

The primary focus will be to serve the educational purposes of the school. Over the past eight to 10 years, the number of the students interested in arts programs has nearly doubled, and space is needed to keep up with the demand, he said. But the facility also will serve the community by allowing local groups and organizations to use the space in the evenings and on weekends and by offering arts-related classes for adults and children.

"We hope to draw the entire community," said Casanave. The center also likely will be a permanent home for the Hingham Symphony Orchestra, which does not now have a permanent performance space.

As more arts opportunities are created in the region, it will become increasingly important for arts organizations and institutions in the region to work together if they are to broaden their reach and prevent scheduling conflicts, noted Wellford. "There are a couple of obvious things we can do together -- coordinate what's going on on the art scene and ideally produce a website or central location to find out what's going on."

That's where ArtSouth comes in. It is a collection of arts organizations and institutions that, acting together, hope to be a one-stop shopping clearinghouse for consumers looking for events.

Member groups also seek to support each other, and share information so that events do not overlap and conflict.

Discussions are underway about developing a website of events or creating a kiosk where people could get information as well as buy tickets.

Already, networking and collaboration is paying off. It was through a brainstorming session with Wellford and a meeting with ArtSouth members that the idea for the Hingham amphitheater developed, said Martin Cohn, spokesman for Samuels & Associates, one of the shipyard developers.

"There is a tremendous demand for venues, especially in the Hingham area. Aside from the South Shore Conservatory, there aren't many places for people to come and listen to music," said Cohn.

"What happened in thinking through the shipyard redevelopment is that Samuels & Associates said we have this piece of land that we can't develop because of certain restrictions. We were going to put a park there anyway. But, from that [meeting with ArtSouth] came this idea."

Construction is expected to start next year.

Sandy Coleman can be reached at sbcoleman@globe.com.

What do you think?
Is the region ready to support and appreciate more venues for the arts, especially the performing arts? Share your comments at boston.com/southtalk. Or e-mail us at globesouth@globe.com, with your name, hometown, and a daytime phone number (number for verification only).



© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

For sale: World's smallest country with sea view

By Paul MajendieTue Jan 9, 8:14 AM ET

For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports.
Apply to Prince Michael of Sealand if you want to run your own nation, even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the North Sea.

Built in World War Two as an anti-aircraft base to repel German bombers, the derelict platform was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there with his family.

He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of England and just outside Britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of Sealand.

The self-styled Prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins.

The family saw off an attempt by Britain's Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize Sealand by force.

Roy, 85, now lives in Spain and his son Michael told BBC Radio on Monday his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."

He suggested Sealand, which has eight rooms in each tower, could be a base for online gambling or offshore banking.

Asked to describe the delights of living on what he described as a cross between a house and a ship, the 54-year-old said: "The neighbors are very quiet. There is a good sea view."